Art is Fundamental

Last year, Bailey spent hours everyday drawing.  He designed space craft, he drew boats, he drew animals, both real and imagined.  When Lucy wants to paint or use playdough, she says "Mom, can I do something fun?"  Abby enjoys illustrating stories that she writes and drawing pictures of her every day life.  I took these as cues that I should learn more about art and to help them learn more about art.

I've been surprised at how hard it has been for me to find an art curriculum.  Many art lesson books do have art lessons in them, but don't really focus on the fundamentals of art, or they are what I would deem craft books, something that gives you detailed instructions on how to recreate something instead of the tools to create your own.  In "Art is Fundamental", Eileen S. Prince gives the fundamentals of art and also some great projects for the students, with a focus on making it their own.  It's a three year curriculum, intended primarily for the first through third grades, although anyone wanting to learn about art could benefit from it.  The materials are kept to a minimum.  When cost or availability could be a concern, Prince gives alternative items and methods for the projects. 

I would suggest completing the activities on your own before teaching them.  There aren't many pictures in the book, and most of the ones there are, are black and white.  I don't think it needs more pictures, but it would be nice to see some examples of all the projects from students.

Eileen Prince has another book called "Art Matters" that I'm also really interested in.  It's about teaching art along side other subject matters.